Automatic disinfecting device.



r n. N. HITCHCOCK.

AUTOMATIC DISINFECTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 6. 1M6- Pmnm m; M91171.

if u w lid r run once.

DANIEL Ill. HI'IGHCOCK. OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

Application filed December 16, 1916. Serial No. 137,378.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL N. Hurcrr States, and resident of St. Louis, in the Stateof souri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Disinfecting Devices, of which the following is a specification containing a full, clear, and exact description, rcferencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart hereof.

y invention relates to an improvedautomatic disinfecting device of that class which periodicallydrops from a reservoir an infinitesimal quantity of a liquid disinfectant, and which continuously impregnates the air of a room with disinfectant by evaporation of the latter; andmy invention consistsin the novel features of construction and or ganization, as hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims appended to this specification.

. The object of my invention is'to provide an improved disinfecting device which shall .be especially adapted foruse upon railway trains, and which will besimple and durable in construction, and economical in the use of the liquid disinfectant, u v i Heretofore, in all such devices used upon railway cars, the jarring, jumpingand jolting of such cars has rendered the disinfect 3 .ing devices very wasteful of the disinfectant,

owing to the fact that thejumping of the cars has forced an abnormal quantity of the liquid out of the reservoirs, and thereby increasedthecost of operation to such an extent as to render the devices impracticable.

My invention may, of course, be used in buildings as well as upon railway cars.

in the drawmgs, H Figure 1 is a perspective view of a d s n- Jtecting device embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section of the same.

Fig. 3 is horizontal sectionof the same, taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2. I

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section of: the same, I taken on the line 4-4; of Fig. 2. v

Fig. 5 is a vertical detail-section of the construction at the lower end of the wickchamber, showing the teat in the bottom thereof, and the connections for the discharge-tube, and

Fig. 6 is a vertical detail-section of the 111- verted neck of the reservoir (or bottle), showing the connection therewith of the feed-tube and the wick-tube.

Specification of Letters Patent.

AUTOMATIC DISINFEGTING- DEVICE.

Patented Dec. 4, T917.

Thenumeral designates a'disinfectant reservoir, which is madein the form of an inverted glass bottle, in the present instance, but which may of course be made of any suitable material.

The said reservoir 1 is provided with the usualbottlc-neck 2, while at the base of its breast is formed an annular shoulder 33, which latter rests upon the upper edge of a cylindrical wick-chamber a. i

A suitable-bracket 5, preferably made of aluminum, is provided for the purpose of securing the device to a wall or other. support, and the said bracket has a horizontal arm 6 at its lower end, on which reststhc lower end of the wick-chamber 4."

said bracket 5 extends the full length "of both the reservoir and the wick-chamber, and the outer face of said bracket has a curved vertical seat 7 in which the curved peripheries of said reservoirand wick-chainber rest, to afford an efficient reinforcement for said parts throughout their heights, and to retain them firmly at all times in vertical alinement, no matter how much the railway car may'julnp or jolt during use of the device.

Bolts 01' screws 8, having their heads countersunk in said bracket 5, and concealed by" the said reservoir and wick-chamber, are

used in securing the said bracket to the wall or other support 9.

u The lower end of the wick-chamber tlS made with a circular depression 10, which projects below said end and forms a teat thereat, for a two-fold purpose, tO-Wll'j! It engages within a'funnel 11 located within an opening 12 formed in said horizontal arm 6 of said supporting-bracket 5, and thereby firmly holds said wick-chamber in place on said arm; and said teat is provided with a small central perforation 13, through which between the teat 10 and the wall of said '1 perforation 12 of said horizontal arm 6.

Depending from the underside of said arm is threaded so that its inner end will engage the said discharge-plpe 14c, and securethe latter firmly in position within said pipeclamp.

6 is a pipe-clamp 15, into which a screw 16 7 of holding and locking the device in place upon saidsupporting-bracket 5, when my in vention is in service. I

Another down-turned portion '20 of the said locking-bracket 19 is removably infserted'infa vertical socket 2 1"formed in the adjacent upper end "of said supportingbraeket 5, anda set-screw 22 isthreaded into the side of'said last-named bracketso that the inner end of said set-screw engages said portion and securely clamps the same Within said socket, and thereby locks the entire device in its place on the said supprtiirg bracket. i I

WVithin said wick-ehainber 1 is a large cir- 20 :cular wick 23, which is of'such size as to .reacharound the inner surface of said chamberin cfontact therewith, and the height of said fwie k is almost equalto the height of the ehaniber, so that the wick will reach fromthe bottom of thechamber to 'a'point near' the upper end thereof, so as to' expose the greatest possible area of wick within said chainberto the action of the air therein, su h a ir', entering said chamber through the lowe end of a'large vertical slot or opening 24, is formed in the rear portion of "the chamber, as showninore clearly in Fig. 3.

A suitablestopper 25 firmly located said neck 2 of the reservoir 1, and a small vertical feed-tube 26 has its upper portionfixed in a perforation formed within saidjstoppenso that said tubepasses through the, latter and extends downwardly within alpifotectingtube 27, to the lower end of 40 which the wick-tube holder 28 is connected by. a lateral extension 29. p v j -Ihe upper end of said feed-tube 26 is proyided with a hior izontal flange '30, which jrests in contact with the upper end of said s topper, so that the liquid disinfectant may passfrom saidreservoir 1 into the said feedtube, and thence to the said lateral extension 29 and wicletube holder 28.

jAieafp r i hield, 31,,is plaeed ,over the up- :-'per endof said feed tube 26, within the res erjvoir, and is supported a slight distance 'above said end of said tube by means of a plura lity of integral marginal legs 32, which depend from said cap and rest upon the upper end of said jstopper 25, for the purpose ;of prev enting the liquid disinfectant from being forced too rapidly into the open end of said feed-tube by the jumping o jarring caused by therunning of the railway GOpar, and yet permit an ample quantity of jsuch disinfectant to gradually flow through the limited space between said cap and the V openend of said tube.

' A snitable clamp 33 embraces the beaded neck2 of said reservoir 1, as well as theiipperportion of the said protecting-tube 27,

and removably fastens the said tube to the said neck.

An inverted U shaped wick-tube 3% is telescopically, and detachably mounted in the upper end of the said wick-tube holder 28, and a suitable wick is mounted within said wick-tube, so that one end of said wick projects into the space beneath the lower end of the leg of said wick-tube which is in said wick-tube holder, and the opposite end of'sa'id wick extends beyond the other leg of said wick-tube, and rests in contact with the bottom of the wick-chamber 4..

A common set screw 36 is threaded through said \\"i(':k'-tubehol der 28 and engages the inclosed leg ofsaid wick-tube 34-, to retain same in the desired adjustment.

The operationis as follows:

An extended description of the operation of my invention will not be necessary, as the function of the several parts will be obvious to thoseskilled in the art.

To fill the reservoir 1, the same is deta chedand placed with its neck 2 upward, the locking-bracket '19 havingbeen, of course, first released and its head 18 removedfrom the depression 17 inthe top of said reservoir, which may be done by loosening the set-screw 22,

The stopper 25' is then withdrawn, together with all the parts attached thereto, which maybe done by detaching the fiexible end of the clamp 33 fromthe beaded neck of said reservoir. After the reservoir 1 is filled with disinfectant liquid, it is replaced and locked in position, as shown, by manipulating the locking-bracket and its set-screw 22, in the manner previously described.

'The disinfectant liquid flows out of the reservoir 1 by passing under the said cap or shield 31, at the rate of about one quart per month, into theopen upper end of said feedtube26, and thence passes to the wick-space in the lower end of said wick-tube holder 28 by way of the lateral extension 29, where it is conducted by capillary attraction of the wick 35 through the wick-tube 3 1 and deposited in the bottom of the wick-chamber, and accumulates thereinuntil it reaches a 'sufiicient height upon the large 'wick"23 to be carried away in a measure by said large wick andexposed' to the air circulating in said wick-chamber by way of the large 'vertical opening or slot 2%, whence the disinfected air escapes andm'ingles with the air of the room.

The'liquid disinfectant also passes through the said small perforation 13 of the'teat' l0,

"and drops into the auiderlying discharge .plpe 1 1, and is carried thereby to any desired destination and discharged, for-an obvious purpose. 2

Should thefiow through said wick-tube 34 be too rapidfit may be lessened byiidjusting the wick tube in said wick tube holder 28, that is-by raising said wick-tube until its discharge end, or leg, will have less siphonie effect, it being Well known that the shorter the said leg is the less rapid will be the flow through the siphon, and vice versa.

1 do not Wish to restrict myself to the details of construction shown and described herein, as obvious modifications will suggest themselves to skilled mechanics and experts in the art.

I particularly claim the following as my invention: r

1. In a disinfecting device, a reservoir in the form of an inverted bottle having a neck, a stopper in said neck, a feed-tube extending through said stopper and having a horizontal flange at its upper end, and a shield having legs which rest upon said stopperwithin said reservoir and support said shield a slight distance above the entrance to said tube.

memes of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the 2. In an improved disinfecting device, a wick-chamber having a discharge-teat, a supportingbracket having a perforated horizontal arm in the perforation of which said teat is located to prevent lateral removal of said chamber from said arm, a discharge-pipe connection beneath the perforation of said discharge-teat, a suitable wick in said wick-chamber, a reservoir supported by said wick-chamber, a feed-tube for feeding liquid disinfectant into said chamber from said reservoir, and locking-means for preventing the removal of said reservoir from said wick-chamber.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DANIEL N. HITCHCOCK.

"Gommtssloner at tatenta Washington, D. G. 

